Doolittle's D-Day, 6th June 1944 by Robert Taylor  By any military standards, it is difficult to imagine the Supreme Commander of the largest air force of the day, piloting himself over the battlefront during the early moments of one of history's greatest military operations.  But General Jimmy Doollittle was no ordinary commander.  Already awarded America's highest decoration for valour, General Doolittle was, by the summer of 1944, in command of the American 8th Air Force.  On the morning of 6 June, D-Day, he dispatched 1350 bombers together with his entire fighter force to attack enemy ground installations near the beachheads.  Sitting around waiting for intelligence reports was not Jimmy Doolittle's style.  He was going to see for himself what was happening!  With Pat Partridge as wingman, they took off flyinh P-38 Lightnings - chosen for their distinctive profile in the hopes they would deter friendly fire - and climbed above the overcast.  Having observed the 8th Air Force's operations at first hand, as they turned for home, Doolittle spotted a hole in the clouds, flick-rolled through it and disappeared beneath the cloud layer.  Pat Partridge had his head in the cockpit, probably changing his gas tanks, and when he looked up there was no sign of his Supreme Commander.  He circled around for a while, then headed for home.  Beneath the clouds Doolittle saw "the most impressive and unforgettable sight I could have possibly imagined".  As some 5000 ships of all shapes and sizes landed 176,000 troops on the enemy held beaches of Northern France, Doolittle flew up and down the battlefront assessing how the invasion was progressing, and after a two and a half hour sortie, headed back to base.  After landing, Doolittle hurried over to General Eisenhower's headquarters to provide the first report Eisenhower received, beating his own intelligence information by several hours.

Mustangs on the Prowl.  by Robert Taylor  Mustangs on the prowl;  Between 3 and 13th september 1944, the 55th Fighter group flew eight arduous, highly successful, bomber escort missions to Germany for which the group received a Distinguished Unit Citation. like those the group had flown before and would fly again and again until the end of hostilities each mission took them deep into enemy airspace, involved desperate combat with Luftwaffe fighters, and culminated in rapid decent to low level to strafe enemy airfields on the way home. In that ten day period of intense fighting 55th covered themselves in glory, destroying large numbers of enemy fighters in the air and on the ground, one of their pilots becoming the top scoring ground attack pilot of the campaign. Long range combat missions were typical of the assignments flown by the fighters of the 8th Air Force during that period of the air war. not content with the dog fighting at altitude, when escort duty was complete, the eighth's aggressive fighter pilots relished the opportunity to hurtle down to tree top height and ignoring the inevitable barrage of anti-aircraft fire, shoot up any target of opportunity upon which they could bring their guns to bear.

Phantom Showtime by Robert Taylor The painting shows Cunningham's F-4J Phantom, feet above the murky waters of the Gulf of Tonkin, passing the USS Constealltion at 500 knots. The mighty carrier was running out of water in the small Gulf as Cunningham called up Air Boss requesting the traditional victory roll. "Negative, land immediately." was the terse reply. The mood aboard however was one of celebration for the crew of VF-96s Phantom, call sign 'Showtime 112'. Signatories: Commander Randall H Cunningham and Commander Willie Driscoll. "Irish and I came into the break smoking at 500 knots, below the level of the flight deck. I could see thousands of men watching from the catwalks. I made a six-G break turn with a 90 degree angle of bank. We landed after one of my best passes of the cruise." Cdr Randy 'Duke' Cunningham. Back on deck, first to shake the hands of Lt Randy Cunningham and his Radar Intercept Officer, Lt (jg) Willie 'Irish' Driscoll, was ordnanceman Willie White: "Mr Cunningham, we got our MiG today, didn't we!" It was 19 January, 1972, aboard the USS Constellation in the Gulf of Tonkin. As Cunningham shut down the engines of his 'Fighting Falcons' F-4J Phantom, Task Force 77 Commander Admiral Cooper, ship's CO Captain Ward, squadron commanders, and the rest of VF-96's crews were there to congratulate Cunningham and Driscoll on achieving their first kill. It was the first of five air victories, Cunningham and Driscoll becoming the US Navy's only Aces of the Vietnam war. After the usual vision-blurring catapult off the deck, Cunningham's F4J headed for the North Vietnamese airfield at Quang Lang, suspected of basing MiG-21s. His three-ship section was tasked to intercept any MiGs that threatened the reconnaissance RA-5C Vigilante mission as the force approached the enemy airfield. As the RA-5C came under sever fire from AAA and SAMS, Cunningham dodged two missiles, plunging downward from 15,000 feet in the process. Spotting two Bai Thiong-based MiG-21s below, he tracked them just above the jungle tops, closing to within a range of his heat seeking Sidewinders. The MiG pilot broke hard, throwing off the missile, and Cunningham immediately gave his attention to the second enemy fighter. Firing a second Sidewinder, the missile scored a direct hit, blasting off the entire tail section of the MiG, sending it crashing straight into the ground in a ball of fire. Cunningham was now fired up and ready for more, but the dependable Driscoll called attention to the low fuel state from the back seat, and they turned back toward Laos for the long flight back to the Constellation.

Struggle for Supremacy by Robert Taylor At the beginning of 1945 it was plain that Germany would lose the war. The incessant air raids were inexorably destroying the Nazi war machine reducing supplies to the front lines to a crawl. Yet Germany fought doggedly on. It fighter pilots had known nothing different since 1939 - many of those still surviving had flown five years of combat virtually without a break. If the Allies were controlling the skies nobody had told the seasoned Luftwaffe pilots who continued to intercept the massed daylight raids with great determination. The long range capabilities of the 8th Air Force may have allowed fighter escort all the way to the target and back, but the heavy bombers were still being knocked down in numbers, and the American fighter pilots had their work cut out every time the German fighters appeared. Robert Taylor's first edition for 2001 dramatically reconstructs a typical aerial contest on a day in January 1945. P-51 Mustangs of the 357th Fighter Group, escorting heavy bomber raid deep into enemy territory, have engaged a strong force of Luftwaffe Me109s. A massive dog fight has developed high over the Rhine, drawing the interceptors away from the bomber force - a partial victory in itself. But the battle is by no means over. As Captain Robert Foy of the 363rd Squadron engages one of the Me109s in a daring head-on pass, P-47 Thunderbolts of the 56th Fighter Group climb to give support. Ominously, more Luftwaffe fighters are joining the fray from the right. The action is painted in a peerless cloudscape, giving huge distance and depth to what is a classic World War II air combat painting.

Struggle for Supremacy by Robert Taylor Robert Talyor's painting reconstructs a spectacular dog fight between American 8th Air Force fighters and Me109s of the Luftwaffe high over the Rhine, January 1945. Signatories: C.E. Anderson, Ernest Bankey, Doanld Cummings, Walker Mahurin, Günther Rall, Helmut Rüffler and Hans Weik. Colonel C E 'Bud' Anderson -  'Bud' went to England with the 357th Fighter Group in 1943, the first 8th Air Force group to be equipped with Mustangs. He soon got himself on the score sheet whilst dog-fighting a bunch of Me109s. On 29th June 1944, leading his squadron on a mission to Leipzig, they ran into a formation of Fw190s. In the ensuing battle Anderson shot down the leader, and two others. After a short rest in the US, he returned for a second tour, arriving back just in time for the 357th's big day on 28th November. With 353rd they took on a huge formation of some 200 enemy fighters, Anderson adding three more to his score. His final victory came in another fierce contest west of Berlin, and he finished the war with 16 air victories. Lt Col Ernest E Bankey - After training in the US, Ernest Bankey arrived in England for his first combat tour with the 364th Fighter Group, 8th Air Force in February 1944. On 27th December during the Battle of the Bulge, his group ran into a large mass of Luftwaffe fighters whilst trying over the Bonn area of Germany. In the melee of dog-fighting that followed, Ernest Bankey shot down 5 enemy aircraft and shared another. During his 2 tours in England, he flew over 110 combat missions and was credited with 11½ aerial victories and another 5 on the ground. Colonel Donald Cummings - Joining the USAAF in 1941, Don Cummings saw action in England, Africa and Italy, taking part in the battle of Anzio. Flying first with the 12th Air Force and then posted to the 8th Air Force in England, flying with the 39th Fighter Squadron, 55th Fighter Group out of Wormingford. Don Cummings flew a total of 150 combat missions and on 25th February 1945, became one of only two fighter aces to shoot down two Me262 jet fighters on a single mission. He then served in occupied Germany after the war ended. Col Walker 'Bud' Mahurin - 'Bud' Mahurin gained a reputation as one of the USAAF's most colourful fighter aces. Arriving in the European Theatre, flying with the 56th Fighter Group, he indulged in seventeen months of aerial combat, during which he suffered one crash and was forced to bail out three times, finally landing behind enemy lines. Undaunted he made contact with the French Resistance, and found his way back to England. He had by this time shot down 21 German aircraft. He then transferred to the South West Pacific where he added a Japanese aircraft to his score. 'Bud' Mahurin commanded 4th Fighter Interceptor Group in Korea where he added 3½ MiG-15s to his tally before being shot down, for the last time, to spend 16 months as a POW. Generalleutnant Günther Rall - One of the greatest Aces of all time, Günther Rall scored his first air victory early in the Battle of Britain, and by July 1940 was leading 8./JG-52. After transfer to the Eastern Front his air victories mounted but a crash hospitalised him. Within 9 months he was back as a Kommandeur ofIII./JG-52 gaining the wing's 500th victory. Later Kommandeur of II./JG-11 on the Western Front in the home defence, and in March 1945, Kommandeur of JG-300. Günther Rall became the 3rd highest scoring ace in history with 275 victories. He was awarded the Knight' Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords. Oberfeldwebel Helmut Rüffler - Helmet Rüffler joined 9./JG3 in February 1941 and was soon to prove himself a masterful fighter pilot. His scores began to mount quickly and by the end of 1942 his tally had risen to 50 victories. Surviving being shot down in June 1943, he was posted as a much needed fighter instructor but was soon back in the fray - joining 4./JG3 in the home defence of the Reich. In March 1945 he was promoted to Staffelführer of 9./JG51. Shot down 5 times during the war, Helmut Rüffler flew over 690 missions and scored 98 victories. He was awarded the Knight's Cross in December 1942. Hauptmann Hans Weik - Born in 1922, Hans Weik was one of the younger Luftwaffe aces who, after commissioning, was posted to Russia in the spring of 1943 as a young Leutnant flying with the Geschwaderstab JG3. In the spring of 1944 he was promoted Staffelführer 10./JG3 and as such was to become one of the most respected Staffel commanders in the home defence of Germany. In the final week of war he transferred to Lechfeld for training on the Me262. Hans Weik flew over 100 combat missions and achieved a total of 36 victories, 24 of them in the west. He was awarded the Knight's Cross in July 1944.